Expat Tina

View from the CN Tower / Picture taken by me

Casa Loma / Picture taken by me

So, how does one get a job at an international school? I began working at my current job about 3 years ago. I was fascinated with the teachers there, most of them had travel the world: China, Thailand, England, Germany, etc. My goal has always been to travel, to leave the country where I was born and discover the world. I have my fair share of exchange programmes and I have travel for leisure quite a bit too, but I've never properly moved to another country. 

Being introduced to this international world has been an amazing thing and, though I never thought I'd be doing it, teaching and helping students has also been amazing. I love being a librarian, but being a school librarian has a different feeling, getting a little student or a grumpy teenager to find a book they love or finally understanding something is pretty amazing. 

So I finally found how to combine my degree and my love for knowing the world, now the tough part began: how the hell do I get a job in a school in another country!?!? 

I've always been curious and, of course, librarians have a thirst of knowing everything they can get their hands on (of course everything we like! Though I can tell you where to find any type of information on any subject!). I did what I knew best, I began questioning, talking and researching about this international teachers business. 

I was told many things and, I have to admit, a lot of them were quite discouraging: 

'You need a teacher certificate'

'You need to have gone to an English speaking univeristy'

'You need 2+ years of experience as a classroom teacher'

I have a bachelor's degree in library science, my career of choice and I was top of my class, surely that should count for something? I have done exchange programmes to the UK to improve my English skills and have ace my language tests, that should also be accounted for right? I don't want to be a classroom teacher, I want to be a school librarian, do I really need the 2+ years?

All this questions and many more where on my mind, last year I asked again (I never really stopped asking to be honest), this time I got different answers:

'Go for it'

'Why not? You're pretty good at what you do and, most importantly, you're willing to learn'

So, I did it. I signed up for Search Associates, I applied for the fairs and I waited for the end of January 2015, when I would be going to my first ever international job fair in Toronto, Canada.